


Remember This Cracked Earth

by kaleidomusings



Series: Splinters of a Distant Galaxy [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Implied/Referenced Torture, Jedi, Knights - Freeform, M/M, Mages, Magic, Sith, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 18:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6206605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaleidomusings/pseuds/kaleidomusings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When he's captured by the First Order, Poe Dameron never expects to develop such a strong bond with his jailer, but it really doesn't surprise him. He was doomed ever since he saw Finn smile for the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remember This Cracked Earth

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [30 Day AU Challenge](http://kaleidomusings.tumblr.com/post/140746555125).
> 
> The first is "fantasy".
> 
> There are mentions of torture and the horrors of slavery (which I tried to keep it as vague as possible), but if you find them triggering please proceed with caution.

"Will you tell me your name today?"

The last several attempts to engage his jailer in conversation has been met with stiff silences, but Poe is nothing if not persistent. Besides, spending all day locked in a dungeon is far from entertaining, and -other than the mages- no one else ever comes to his cell except this boy. 

And he is a boy. Poe could tell the moment he woke up from his violent capture and found him standing guard. He looks a little over eighteen, judging by how tall he is and being not quite proportional to his broad shoulders, like he hasn't quite grown into them yet. But despite the stern look on his face that makes him look much older, his eyes reveal his inexperience whenever he nervously meets Poe's gaze. The boy also brings food and water not long after the lovely little sessions Poe has with the mages and checks on the wards, casting guilty looks at Poe when he thinks he can't see him. But he hasn't spoken to Poe even once, so it startles him a little when he hears a faint whisper he almost dismisses as a figment of his imagination. 

"I don't have one," the boy says again, a little louder, but not by much. It's almost as if he's afraid of being punished for talking to a prisoner, which is very real possibility now that Poe stops to think about it. But that's nothing compared to the realization that this boy is apparently _nameless_.

"What did you say?" Poe asks, staring at him through the bars of his cell, although they're really just for show. If he could use his powers, he could melt them as easily as ice melts into water on a hot sunny day. The real problem are the wards, which are the only thing keeping him in this hell and at the mercy of the First Order.

"I don't have a name," the boy says, voice still barely audible. "I've been a slave my whole life. They only ever call me FN-2187."

Poe clenches his hands so hard that he reopens the marks his nails made against his palms, caused by his many unpleasant interrogations, but he barely notices. "Slavery is illegal. Under the Organa Act--"

The boy shakes his head to cut Poe off before he can continue. "Things are different here. Those laws don't apply to the First Order."

"Just another one of the many reason they need to answer to the Resistance," Poe says with a bitterness he feels to the very marrow of his bones. He gingerly shifts against the wall he's leaning on and winces at the pain that lances through his entire body. But once he's finally settled enough that it's less agonizing, he takes a moment to think. "FN, huh? How about Finn? I'm going to call you Finn from now on, is that all right?"

The boy processes that for a moment, mouthing the new name silently to himself, before smiling back at him. "Yes, I like it. So what do I call you?"

"My name's Poe Dameron," he says, and -unable to help himself- winks at him. Poe berates himself when the boy -Finn- looks unsure and a little shy. He's twenty-six already, he should know better than to flirt with such a young boy in such an inappropriate place. 

Poe nearly apologizes for it because who knows what Finn's masters have done to him, but Finn's eyes are warm and very gentle when he says, "Good to meet you, Poe."

And if Poe falls a little bit in love with him in that moment, -well- at least none of his friends will know about it. "Good to meet you too, Finn," he replies.

\--

"Why are you a jailer?" Poe asks. His words slur a bit, but he blames that on the concussion. There's also blood in his hair and the side of his face, which brings to his attention just how desperately he needs a bath. And a shave, from the thick beard that has started to grow in. "You're fit and strong. It seems like a waste for you to be here and guard me, rather than doing something more productive." 

"I don't mind," Finn says from where he's sitting on the floor within arms reach of Poe's cell. He meets his gaze, but looks away a heartbeat later. 

"What do you mean, you don't mind?"

"I'm training as a squire under Captain Phasma," Finn explains. "You remember her, don't you?"

"I remember," Poe says with a scowl. She was the one who disarmed him and knocked him right off of BB-8's back into Kylo Ren's watching clutches.

Finn tugged on the straps of his helmet, a nervous habit Poe carefully doesn't point out. Finn has only just started taking his helmet off around him and Poe doesn't want to scare him into putting it back on. "When I'm knighted, I'll no longer be a slave. I can own a house, maybe even have a family."

Poe thinks of his own family estate with the large and empty house he was all too glad to leave. Maybe in another life, he would offer to have Finn stay with him for as long as he likes, but it doesn't seem right to do so when Poe isn't even sure that he'll ever see that place again. "You'll just spend the rest of your life killing whoever they tell you to," he points out as gently as he can.

Finn is quiet for a long time. But just when Poe thinks that he is too angry to speak with him, he suddenly blurts out, "You should tell the mages what they want to know."

"No." Poe doesn't even hesitate. "If I do that, a lot of innocent people will die."

What surprises him is when Finn drops to his knees in front of him, close enough for Poe to reach through the bars if he could. "You'll die either way," he says, his dark eyes pained. "You and I both know that they're going to kill you. So why do you keep suffering like this?"

Poe waits until their eyes meet, so Finn can see his determination and resolve. So he can see the conviction behind Poe's words are genuine when he says, "Because sometimes there are things worth dying for."

\--

"They beat Rey again today."

The days and nights mostly blur together from the pain, but from what Finn tells him it's been nearly three weeks since he was captured and this is the first time Finn has initiated conversation with him, so it must be important. "Who's Rey?"

"My friend." Finn pauses for a beat, fiddling with his helmet straps. He now sits next to Poe's cell and every once in a while he brushes his hand against the cold metal of the bars, like he wants to reach out toward Poe but can't bring himself to. "Well, I consider her my friend, at least."

Finn has never mentioned Rey to him before, so Poe patiently waits for him to collect his thoughts. 

"No one knows where she came from. She won't even tell me, but I think she might be a Jedi."

Poe's eyes widen and he sits up straighter, despite how much his body protests the movement. Jedi are a special kind of mage who don't need incantations or amulets to cast spells. They're deeply connected to the earth and sky, with life itself, and extremely rare. "Why do you think she's a Jedi?" he asks.

"Because she's the only slave Kylo Ren has ever shown interest in," Finn says, which does seem pretty important. "He's one of the Master's most powerful Sith knights."

"Yes, we've met," Poe says darkly, not wanting to hear that name at the moment. "So why did they beat her?"

"They think she's bad luck. When the crops go bad or if wolves attack the flocks, they hurt her. Sometimes they do it just to keep the other slaves scared, so they're won't try to run away."

Disgust wells up inside of him when Poe thinks about some poor girl getting beaten for no better reason than because some people are the worst kind of monsters. "What do they think that will prove, exactly?"

Finn shakes his head. "I don't know."

"Do you ever want to fight for her?" Poe asks, still angry and not thinking clearly.

If he did, Poe wouldn't have to see the guilty and stricken look on Finn's face. "I tried to, once."

Poe means to stops himself, but he wants to know. "And?"

Finn swallows hard and slowly rises to his feet. Before Poe can ask, he slowly turns around and starts unbuckling his armor. He pulls his shirt over his head to bare his back and Poe draws in a sharp breath at the vicious and jagged scar that runs from between his shoulder blades, stopping just short of the waistline of his trousers. 

"Finn," Poe starts, but his voice falters.

Finn faces him, clutching his shirt in one hand. "I want to help her, but I don't know how. I'm not strong enough."

"If you let me go, I'll help you," Poe says.

Finn stares at him. "You'll kill me."

"No!" The very thought disgusts him. "Finn, you know I would never do that."

"But why would you help me?" he asks, like the thought of Poe wanting to help him has never once occurred to Finn before now. 

Poe has never hated the First Order as much as he does right then. "Because friends help each other," he explains, very carefully.

Finn remains silent, but his eyes are shining with unshed tears when he reaches through the bars for Poe's hand.

\--

Finn promises to bring Rey with him in the morning so the three of them can come up with a plan for escape, when Poe is suddenly woken up by a crash as Finn stumbles into the dungeon, bloodied sword in hand and a wild look in his eyes. 

"Finn--"

"They killed her," Finn cuts in. He grabs the cold metal of the bars and the wards start to hum from the disturbance. "She was trying to run away with an orange and white horse she found abandoned in the woods. The knights chased her all the way to the river and she and the horse fell in and were swept straight over a waterfall. Rey is dead."

It hurts thinking about BB-8 meeting such a fate, but Finn is obviously distressed and Poe needs to calm him down before he acts more rashly than he already has. "Finn."

"She's dead," Finn repeats, his voice small and quiet, wavering like a lost child. "She's dead, even though I promised to help her." He looks at Poe, his eyes red rimmed and wet. "Poe, you're the only friend I have left. I can't lose you too."

Finn raises his sword and slices through the wards, tearing through them like paper. Immediately, Poe feels his power flood back into him after weeks of being cut off from it, like a dam bursting open. He was so sure that he would die this dungeon, but here is a brave and beautiful boy giving Poe another chance at life. That's a kind of debt he will never be able to pay back even if he tries to his whole life. So as soon as the cell doors opens Poe grabs Finn's face and brings their foreheads together, offering what comfort he can. It's not enough, maybe it will never be enough, but it's the best he can manage under the circumstances. 

What surprises him is when Finn whines softly and tilting his head down lower, and suddenly they're kissing. Finn is obviously inexperienced, so the kiss is mostly just a press of his mouth against his, making Poe wish the timing wasn't so completely off and he could show Finn what kissing can really be like. 

"Please don't ever leave me," Finn begs against his mouth when he finally pulls away, his chest heaving like he can't seem to catch his breath. "I'll gladly sacrifice my life to keep you safe, just stay with me always."

"I swear," Poe promises and tilts his face up to press a kiss to the trembling corner of his mouth. Then he grabs Finn by the hand and starts dragging him toward the exit. There's nothing Poe wants more than to tell Finn about how he fell in love with him since the very beginning and has no intention of ever letting him go, but that will have to wait. For now, escape comes first, and then he can confess his undying love for this boy.

But thanks to Finn, Poe is still alive, and now they have all the time in the world to figure it out later.

**Author's Note:**

> I started this challenge to practice writing from Poe's POV and try getting his voice down right. Let me know whether or not if I succeeded. Also, the reason why I changed their ages was because I wanted to come back to this story at another time show the development of Finn and Poe's relationship over the years before they actually kissed, but the fic ended the way it did because it felt right and I don't have the heart to change it. But I would like to write a second part to this fic someday and explain what happened to Rey and BB-8, as well as Finn meeting Leia and joining the Resistance. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading! And if you leave kudos and comments, that will really make my day.


End file.
